The ogeima here was invented by Fujisawa Kuranosuke. The most common continuation is at a, which will be further discussed on this page. There is also
here is now almost always played: the alternatives at a and b are nowadays considered to be inferior. The continuation with
at a gives Black too much in the way of outside influence (see below).
There is also Cho Chikun's variation where White plays at c and Hashimoto Soji's variation where Black plays
at
.
The normal moves are as shown here, completing the joseki. For a while the relative timing of the /
and
/
exchanges was considered a critical issue[1], but (it seems) no longer.
at b is a variant which is stronger in the corner. The exchange of
for
is a loss for White, as it greatly weakens the aji of his solitory stone, but it means that
indirectly covers the cutting point at c.
is of course not played if Black already has a stone in the area.
in the previous line can be played at
here instead, provided the ladder works for White. The first time it appeared (perhaps) was in a game between Miyazawa Goro and Ishikura Noboru. Can the latter therefore be considered to have invented the variation ?
There are two issues in this joseki:
kokiri: also played by Nie weiping and discussed in his (unfairly criticised IMO) Nie Weiping On Go but in that example he used it to build a (black) position down the side.
is a modern variant of the joseki.
This is the contunuation
here is considered vulgar. White seems to end in sente, but if she takes it, Black can play Black a-White b-Black c-White d in sente, completely enclosing White in the corner, The result is considered better for Black.
The cut at is not good for White. If the ladder works for Black, he can cut at a to annihilate White. If not, he crosses under at b to give the following result.
This result is comparable to the one in Hashimoto Soji's variation but it is worse. White's influence is diminished by the gaps at a and b.
[1]
This is a possible critical line for the supposed timing issue. before
is natural, simply because
is locally a bad play, weakening the marked white stone (it is only played at all to strengthen White's cutting point). The question is, what if Black now plays
to cut, the shape to the right having been fixed by
/
?
This position has occurred in a game, Cao Dayuan vs. Sakata Eio 1987-04-27.
After these plays and White a, Black b, White c, White has died inside and has much influence outside.
Another possible critical line occurs when White pushes in the centre first, as here; and Black makes the bamboo joint to thwart White's later play in the corner (now if White a, Black b and White has less eye shape). That invites
and induces the cut
.
This was played in a Korean game (Seo Neung-uk vs. Cheong Su-hyeon 1990-12-07); variations are given in Jungsuk in Our Time.
See also Deviating From Joseki In Games 1.
Authors